Dealers Who Tamper With Auction Vehicles

[tony1963]

I've bought two vehicles that appear to have been tampered with while at the auction.  The tampering was designed to disable features or make the car run badly.  In both cases, the repair was simple and I ended up with a good deal.  Both cars were bought using Manheim's online feature, somewhat sight unseen.

2003 Mercedes E320

This is a very clean car that had about 140k miles.  When it originally arrived, the AC did not work.  I noticed that the engine fan was running 100% even with a cold engine.  So, I did a little checking.  Plugging into the computer system I found that the high side pressure switch was reading beyond any reasonable pressure.  So, I checked and the high pressure switch was unplugged.  It was sitting on the plug, but unplugged.

The engine computer saw this as an ultra high signal, boosted the fan to 100% and shut down the system.  I plugged it in and everything worked normally.

I ended up with a good deal and gave the car a full service.  Sold it and did well.

2004 Volvo S60 2.4 Non-Turbo

This one was very clean and had about 142k miles.  The car is garage kept, clean and appears to have been serviced its entire life.  The car shows up today and runs like **bleep** at idle with both a "check engine" light and a message on the dash that says "Anti-Skid Service Required".

Plugging the car into the scanner, it is full of codes.  From the codes in the modules, a lot of things were unplugged to get warnings or messages to appear.  One code suggested a dirty throttle body so I pulled and cleaned it.  It really wasn't dirty but it is a step that we do anyway.

Clearing the codes two came back.  One was "RPM Signal Missing" and the other was for the heated oxygen sensor circuit.  I checked the crank sensor and it is unplugged.  Plug it back in, clear the codes, the car runs beautifully.  

I'll change the front oxygen sensor and give it a full service.  Again, we got a deal and will do well with this ride.

Thank you to the dishonest dealers in both Atlanta and Orlando that allowed me to buy two nice cars for a song!

[marinermikes]

Are you implying that some dealer went to the auction and sabotaged the cars to make other buyers balk?

[tony1963]

Yes, I've seen this many times.

I have a friend who bought a vehicle for a good price on a sealed bid auction.  He came to me because the transmisssion wouldn't shift.  I plugged in my scan tool which would not communicate.  That gave me a good idea.

Looking at the fuse panel, the 10-amp fuse for the transmssion module was not there.  I removed the floor mat to get in there and look closer and guess what - the 10-amp fuse was under the floor mat.

The guy who did this put in a low bid and figured that since the car didn't shift, no one would want it.  When he got the car, he'd reinstall the fuse and away we go.  I did the same and my friend had a nice car.

[atikovi]

Happens all the time around here. 20 years ago when most cars still had spark plug wires, they would cross them. These days they pull a coil or injector wire or disconnect a sensor. Most dealers realize this now so it doesn't sell much cheaper.

[tony1963]

What's funny is that if I were standing there in Atlanta when the car came through, I might be turned off by the rough running and never buy it.  By using the online system, it doesn't deter me but it creates an opportunity.

The car is cleaned and ready to sell.  The prior owner did ALL of the service.

[atikovi]

And then there are the cars that go through with a rod knock or maybe no reverse and online bidders have no clue, espcially when the seller's shills push it up.

[tony1963]

Manheim guarantees their condition reports.  The basics are disclosed.  

[dwoznia]

You're Jesus Christ!  So perfect in so many ways!! Please sell me a car...PLEASE!

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

You have no proof anything was tampered with and you were not forced to purchase the vehicles or nor prevented from inspecting them prior to purchase or pick-up and could have at that pint not gone through with the sale.
Buying sight unseen is your issue and was your choice.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

DId you see this person do any such thing....I am gonna bet the answer is NO...I do not even have to bet I know the answer is NO
You are making wild guesses without proof to anythign other than the cars were not perfect and had issues that no one bothered to check ahead of time.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

Best advice for you is to not purchase a vehicle you cannot see and drive prior to purchasing so you do not have to make things up about the seller or people tampering with things.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

This whole things kinda sounds more like an attempt to try to get people to stop bidding on their auctions...so maybe you can purchase for less money. Hmmmm.

[tony1963]

Let's get something straight.  Here's my opening line in the thread:

"I've bought two vehicles that appear to have been tampered with while at the auction." 

Notice that I qualified the statement as "appear".  No, I don't have proof and I never said that it was factual.  Since the vehicle came from a dealer-only auction site, a reasonable conclusion would be that they were tampered with.  No car has that many codes in the normal course of business.  However, believe whatever you like.

I did not come here to complain.  If anything, I came here to gloat since the car sold very cheap and I ended up figuring out the problem in less than 30 minutes.  

I would encourage you to read the post before spraying views that will not align with the original post.

[marinermikes]

I have to side with Tony on this one. Why the hostility?  I had to reread the original post. Thought I missed some thing!